Moi-Moi or Moin-Moin is one of the most popular Nigerian foods. It is a bean pudding prepared by using black-eyed-peas, onions, pepper and several other ingredients. It is served in occasions and also in major restaurants in the country. There are hawkers of this staple food in the streets of Nigeria. This meal is very rich as a result of its long list of ingredients. There is a ‘seven-life’ moi-moi; the seven denotes the number of ingredients added to it. The Yoruba people of Nigeria refer to moi-moi as olele.
The list of ingredients includes black-eyed-pea (beans), egg, crayfish, onion, pepper, sardines, corned beef, fish, vegetable oil/palm oil, stock cubes, and salt to taste.
Soak the black-eyed-peas (beans) in water for some hours. Peel the soaked bean to remove its outer covering. Rinse the beans in water thoroughly. Wash and slice the onions into rings then add to the peeled beans. Also, rinse the red bonnet pepper and add to your beans. Ground or blend the beans in a grinding machine or blender till it forms a fine paste, then set aside in a container. Boil your egg, meat and fish as well and set aside.
Turn the paste with a spatula as you add ingredients such as vegetable oil, stock cubes, broth from boiled fish/meat, and salt to taste. Stir very well so as to have a good mixture. You can either use wrapping leaves (Thaumatococcus danielli) or empty cans of milk or tomato to contain the paste (it is not advisable to use waterproofs). When this is done, you add other ingredients such as boiled egg, crayfish, fish, ponmo, corned beef, and so on. Wrap and set neatly into a pot. The content in the pot is cooked by steaming in water for about 30-45 minutes on low medium heat. Thereafter, your moi-moi is done, taking the shape of its container. Moi-moi can be eaten alone or with bread as a snack, with rice as a meal or with pap for breakfast or supper. It can also be taken with garri in the afternoon. You must have taken this protein-rich food but you have to prepare this one on your own if you haven’t. Give it a try and improve your culinary skills with this sumptuous meal. Bon appétit!